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A New Topdressing Aircraft The Walsh Memorial Library hold eight logbooks of Banks Peninsula-born pilot Harold Lord Piper (1899–1965). Log books are an invaluable record for any pilot — tracing the different aircraft types flown, distances and conditions they flew in.
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A Platform for the Future: Auckland Rapid Transit The plan for Auckland’s electric metro rail that included an underground CBD loop from 50 years ago.
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‘You’ve kicked me’: Tram Conductresses Auckland’s tramway was initially a public/private venture by the British Electric Traction Company in London and the Auckland Borough Councils but was taken over by the Auckland City Corporation in 1919. It flourished for 40 years but street tramways fell out of favour and were replaced by diesel and trolleybuses in a modernisation programme after the Second World War. Auckland’s last trams ran on 30 December 1956 (although they run regularly at MOTAT).
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Leo White: The Man Behind The Whites Aviation Collection The Whites Aviation Collection spans some 70 years of history with categories covering the early aero clubs, trans-Tasman flights, the formation of the early airlines in New Zealand and other aviation events up to the 1970's.
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Short Sunderland NZ4115 MOTAT's Short Sunderland NZ4115 was officially presented to MOTAT in September 1966 and arrived the summer of 1967. Read on for more about its history and delivery to MOTAT.
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Lime e-scooters: Shared Micromobility Hits Auckland's Streets. Lime played a pivotal role in the introduction of shared-use scooters to New Zealand in 2018.
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Telecom Phone Cards A donation of Telecom phone cards from the late 1990s has filled a gap in our Telecommunications collection.
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Some Assembly Required: A Brief History of Early Ford Assembly in New Zealand In the 1930s, New Zealand had a thriving car assembly industry. While this is no longer the case today, New Zealand still has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world. In 1939, New Zealand was second only to the USA for car ownership.
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‘I Am the Last Tram’ In December 1956 Graham Voitre was asked to paint ‘I Am the Last Tram’ on the side of tram number 242.
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‘We were novelties’: TEAL Solent Flying Boat Stewardesses MOTAT has the last remaining Mark IV Short Solent flying boat in the world in its collection. In the Walsh Memorial Library’s recorded sound archive, there are a number of interviews recorded by members of the Solent Preservation Society in the 1990s. In the late 2000s we recorded some interviews with stewardesses who flew on the Solents between Auckland and Wellington and Sydney, and from Auckland up to the Pacific to Tonga and Fiji, and on the Coral Route which went via Fiji, Samoa and the Cook Islands to Tahiti. The Auckland-Sydney route started in 1949, the Wellington-Sydney one in 1950. In 1951 the Coral Route began — at first monthly and then fortnightly.
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‘A Long Day in a Tin Can’ New Zealand Railways hostesses recall working the main trunk line in the 1970’s and 80's.
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The Flying Kiwi: A Photo Essay The Walsh Memorial Library currently has a selection of objects and archival material on display to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Cliff Tait’s round the world flight in New Zealand manufactured, AESL Airtourer 115 “Miss Jacy.” The Library cares for the extensive photographic collection compiled by Cliff during this flight, which saw him away from his family from May — August 1969, something we’re all learned to grapple with during the COVID pandemic.
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The Arrival of a MOTAT Icon As part of the Registry team's Collection Review we delve into researching the MOTAT Collection. Here is some research I have been undertaking.
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Tales from the Air: Batten’s Journey to Brazil Jean Batten is well remembered for her record flights between England, Australia and New Zealand. In 1935 she set off on another record breaking flight from England to Brazil in her Percival Gull aircraft.
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Short Solent Mk 4, ZK-AMO "Aranui" The Short S45A Solent Mk 4 Flying Boat ZK-AMO "Aranui" has been a feature in MOTAT's collection since 1964. Read more to learn about how "Aranui" came to be at MOTAT.
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The Trekka: A utility vehicle for the New Zealand market The Trekka is the only vehicle designed, built, and mass-produced in New Zealand using an imported Škoda Chassis from Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic and Slovakia). The idea was to locally produce an affordable vehicle in response to the highly regulated import policies pursued by New Zealand Governments since the early 1950s, which made new cars scarce and expensive.
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Looking after Auckland Harbour Bridge Painting the bridge was a constant job...
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The Life & Times of a well-travelled Steam tram Engine - No.100 - celebrating 130 years of age Built in 1891 by the well-known engine manufacturers Baldwin Locomotive Works, read about the history of MOTAT's Tram 100.
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Tram No. 135 and its century of travelling the tracks Built in 1921, Tram No. 135's history of service in Wellington and journey to MOTAT is outlined.
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A Polarising Sauce: The Essence of Anchovies In 2017, MOTAT received the donation of an unopened bottle of sauce carrying the title “Essence of Anchovies”. At first it may seem an unusual object for MOTAT's Collection, so let’s take a closer look at the unique history of this object.
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